LEGALINK CROSS-BORDER LAYOFFS QUESTIONNAIRE
A COUNTRY BY COUNTRY SUMMARY OF APPLICABLE EMPLOYMENT LAWS
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NEW ZEALANDSection 4 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 applies. When an employer is proposing or considering a decision that will or is likely to have an adverse effect on the continuation of employment of any employee or employees, certain requirements apply. The employer must provide access to information, relevant to the continuation of the employee’s employment, about the decision to employees. The employer must also give the employee an opportunity to comment on the information to their employer before the decision is made.
The dismissal must be justified. The applicable individual or collective employment agreement provisions regarding notice and consultation must be complied with as well as Section 4 noted above.
No, the requirements in 1 and 2 above apply equally to redundancy lay-offs.
Yes. Employees may bring personal grievance challenges to their dismissal. The available grounds for contesting a dismissal include: lack of justification; discrimination; sexual harassment; racial harassment; duress in relation to membership of a union or employee’s organization; and if employed in cleaning or food catering services, the failure by the employer to protect employee’s job.
The penalties include: the reinstatement of the employee to her former job; reimbursement of wages lost; compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity, and injury to the feelings of the employee; compensation for loss of any benefit; and recommendations to employer to prevent further violations.
The most common mistakes are the failure to consult with the employee before making the decision and the failure to provide the affected employees with sufficient information before making the decision.
The parties to mergers and acquisitions are required to seek specific advice on compliance with the employee protection provisions applicable to the particular transaction. Not only do statutory provisions apply but the individual and collective employment agreements may contain relevant clauses.
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